America in Color

For many immigrants, their first sight of the U.S. is the Statue of Liberty. The iconic structure promises sanctuary, hope, and a fresh start, but they soon learn that America's arms are not always open. Colorized rare home movies and archival footage reveal the amazing stories of ordinary people who share the same dream. From Caribbean immigrants who settled in Harlem to Italian "radicals" shipped back home to celebrities such as Albert Einstein, see how America changed as immigrants brought new cultures from the margins to the mainstream.

The Hindenburg crash, the San Francisco earthquake, the Galveston hurricane, and the tri-state tornado are just a handful of disasters that slammed America during the first half of the 20th century. After each calamity struck, scientists and engineers raced to analyze the damage and collect data to better protect the public from future catastrophes. Witness these historic disasters in vivid color, and see how they shaped the nation and fostered a better understanding of the world's geology.

At the dawn of the 20th century, most Americans think of Alaska as an icy unpopulated wilderness, but one event will change everything: the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896. Through remastered and colorized news footage and home movies, witness Alaska's evolution from a frozen wasteland at the edge of the world to the 49th state to join the Union in 1959. From boomtowns to volcanic blasts to Japanese invasions, this is the story of America's last frontier as you have never seen it before.

At the turn of the 20th century, 29 million Americans are working and 40% of them are farmers. Over the decades, factories expand like never before, two world wars speed up technological change, and by the 1950s, American workers have the highest wages and consumer power of any country in the world. This is the story of the men and women who built the American Dream, presented entirely in color through digitally remastered archival footage and home movies.

From Bonnie and Clyde to George "Machine Gun" Kelly and from the Lindbergh kidnapping to the Brink's robbery, the early 20th century in America was marked by celebrity outlaws, courtroom dramas, and shocking murders and misdeeds that captivated the nation. This is the story of America's fascination with crime, told in color. Using rare home movies, newsreel coverage, police footage, and FBI films, look back at the country's most high-profile criminals and cases.

At the turn of the 20th century, two-thirds of Americans live in small towns, but by the 1960s, only a third remain. Some are lured to cities by the promise of opportunity and money, while others move there to escape racism and intolerance. Through it all, the myth of these quaint, harmonious communities continues to burn powerfully in the minds of many. This is the story of small town America, from soap box derbies and Will Rogers' charm to postwar poverty and the Great Migration, presented in color.